Long Beach council addresses issues with collecting parking fines

LONG BEACH >> Troubles with collecting parking fines in this city could be eased by a new citations system approved Tuesday.

The City Council voted 7-0 to enter into contracts totaling $2.3 million over five years to overhaul the city’s 13-year-old parking citations collections system, which has few automated processes and no connection to the Department of Motor Vehicles databases to keep car registration information up to date.

An audit released in March 2012 blamed the system for $17.6 million in uncollected fines in the prior three years.

Since the audit, the city has stepped up fine enforcement by outsourcing collections, participating in a state tax refund intercept program and successfully lobbying to close a loophole in state law that allowed scofflaws to avoid paying for citations by transferring their vehicle to a family member for $15. The efforts have boosted revenue by about $800,000, according to the city.

The new system by Data Ticket Inc. of Newport Beach will combine citation issuing, processing and collecting – functionality not bundled in the current system.

About 345,000 citations are processed each year in Long Beach, according to the city, with $13 million in revenue generated.

Tuesday’s decision was delayed by one week because council members said staff did not adequately explain why the most expensive vendor was chosen over others that had larger clients.

A memorandum distributed to the council on Friday explained that Data Ticket’s services were expected to generate the highest revenue, and the company was considered the most experienced and competent by a committee of representatives from the departments of Financial Management, Technology Services and Public Works.

Gross told the council that Data Ticket processes more than 2 million citations annually, saying that Long Beach would not overly stress the company’s capacity.

Not all were convinced.

“Aggregating a number of small clients doesn’t mean it is the same as what it would be to serve a client such as we are with 300,000 tickets,” said Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal.

She eventually introduced a substitute motion to contract with Xerox, whose proposal was $22,166 less than the vendor selected by staff.

At the end of what became a lengthy discussion, an exasperated Mayor Bob Foster called what he described as micromanaging by several council members “a little absurd.”

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“You guys want to be the city manager, go ahead and apply for it,” Foster said.

Lowenthal and Councilman Gary DeLong voted for the substitute, which failed by a 5-2 vote.

Vice Mayor Robert Garcia and Councilman Dee Andrews were absent.

Also on Tuesday:

• A request made by City Attorney Charles Parkin seeking more guidance on drafting a medical marijuana dispensary law was delayed to Tuesday.

Lowenthal voted to delay the item after noting three of the council’s nine members — DeLong left during the meeting — were absent.

Parkin has said he has run into trouble fulfilling the council’s September request to write a law allowing no more than two dispensaries in each district and confining them to industrial zones, because the use does not exist in every district.

Buffering dispensaries away from sensitive areas such as schools, parks and day-care centers has also prevented Parkin’s office from writing a sufficient law.

• The council passed a worker-retention ordinance and labor peace agreement affecting the Long Beach Airport and Convention Center.

Both measures passed unanimously.

Concessions contractors would have to keep their predecessor’s employees for 90 days under the worker-retention ordinance.

The labor peace agreement law requires concession contractors to enter into accords with its employees in which the workers waive their rights to strike and boycott.

Such agreements are promoted by unions to protect and organize workers and exist in such cities as Los Angeles and San Francisco, and 11 states.

UNITE HERE Local 11, a group involved in passing last year’s hotel worker living- wage initiative, supported both of the proposals.

Eric Bradley can be reached at 562-499-1254.

About the Author

Eric Bradley covers Long Beach City Hall and politics. He joined the Press-Telegram in August 2011 and previously reported for the Daily Breeze and the Cincinnati Enquirer. Reach the author at eric.bradley@langnews.com
or follow Eric on Twitter: EricBradleyPT.